Tech Exercise Science Department teaches kayaking safety to local adults with special needs
Bradley Westrick, exercise science lecturer at Tech, and Alexa Hitchcock, Independence
Program instructor for Putnam County Schools, take a group photo with Independence
Program students and Tech student volunteers at Cane Creek Park, where the group spent
a day kayaking.
A group of local young adults with special needs enjoyed a day on the water thanks
to Tennessee Tech University’s Department of Exercise Science.
The students are enrolled in the Putnam County School System’s Independence Program,
a project made possible through a unique partnership between Tech and the school district.
Participants in the program are typically ages 18 to 22 and are learning to manage
disabilities and live independently while being immersed in the college setting. Classes
are taught by Putnam County Schools instructors and hosted on Tech’s campus, with
support from Tech faculty and staff.
Bradley Westrick, lecturer in Tech’s Department of Exercise Science, helped guide
this semester’s students through a weeks-long aquatics course. The students started
out in the university’s Memorial Gym pool and later got to put their skills into practice
by kayaking at Cookeville’s Cane Creek Park.
“Probably the highlight of my working week at Tech is the opportunity to work with
these special needs adults,” said Westrick. “It’s a blessing. They are so positive
and have such an enthusiasm for life. They give more to me than I give to them.”
Westrick, who also serves as faculty co-advisor for the Tech swim club, has a deeply
personal connection to his work promoting water safety: his brother died from a drowning
accident at the age of three. Outside of his service at Tech, he now spends his spare
time providing free adult swim lessons in the community.
“Sometimes special needs individuals can be at increased risk for drowning, so we
do the swimming part, we emphasize wearing a life jacket and we teach them how to
do outdoor water activities in a safe environment,” Westrick explained.
Tech students in a kayaking elective course taught by Westrick also volunteer with
the class and joined the Independence Program students for their kayaking excursion.
At the end of the day, the group shared a meal together with a lakeside cookout.
“My Tech students help chaperone and go out and paddle with the special needs students,”
added Westrick. “It’s a great way to teach the importance of inclusion.”
Westrick, left, reminds students how to properly hold their paddle before they take
their kayak into the water. 
Independence Program students and Tech student volunteers kayak on the 56-acre lake
at Cane Creek Park.
Tech alumna Alexa Hitchcock is a program instructor for Putnam County Schools who
worked alongside Westrick throughout the course. She praised the students’ determination
– noting that some had been fearful of the water, and kayaking was a new experience
for most in the class – and expressed gratitude to “Mr. Brad” for helping the students
to feel at ease.
“We are so grateful for Tennessee Tech’s collaboration with the Independence Program,”
said Hitchcock. “Tech’s students and faculty, like Mr. Brad, have been so supportive
of us. They allow our students to participate in a wide variety of classes and events
on campus that give our students unique learning opportunities they couldn’t get anywhere
else.”
Westrick was quick to put the praise back on Hitchcock and her fellow Putnam County
Schools teachers involved with the Independence Program.
“I can’t say enough about the teachers and teaching assistants,” he said. “They are
some of the best teachers I’ve ever seen.”
Westrick added that the Independence Program has enjoyed strong support from other
Tech faculty including Lisa Zagumny, dean of the College of Education & Human Sciences,
and Christy Killman, chair of the Exercise Science Department.
“It’s a great partnership, and without them, it wouldn’t be possible,” he concluded.